This invention relates to handling, or managing, a plurality of suture elements during a surgical procedure.
During many different surgical procedures it is required to join, or secure, patient tissue together. One way often employed by surgeons, or medical assistants, or the like, to secure patient tissue together, is by using suture elements in a suturing procedure. During such a suturing procedure, suture elements are typically located, or placed, at a surgical site on a patient body and opposed portions of the suture elements are then tied to form sutures, or stitches, at the surgical site so as to secure the patient tissue together. Traditionally, such suturing procedures have been performed by using suture carrying needles to locate one or more suture elements through tissue, pulling the suture elements through the tissue to bring the tissue together and then tying opposed portions of the suture elements together to secure the tissue together.
Multi-suture deployment devices have been proposed by means of which a plurality of suture elements can be located, or placed, at a surgical site on a patient body generally at the same time. When such a plurality of suture elements have been located at the surgical site in this fashion, opposed portions of the suture elements are typically extended from the surgical site and then opposed portions of each suture element are typically tied together to secure the tissue together at the surgical site.
It has been found that managing opposed portions of a plurality of suture elements after having been located on the patient body can be rather tedious. In particular, if appropriate care is not taken, the opposed portions of the suture elements can become mixed up, or twisted, so that identifying which portion of a suture element corresponds with which opposed portion of the same suture element becomes a rather arduous task. Furthermore, after the suture elements have been located on the patient body, the opposed portions of the suture elements are typically positioned to extend from the patient body while being carried on suture holders of the multi-suture deployment device. In such a case, the suture elements can be laterally spaced quite close to one another, making manual pick-up of individual suture element portions, so as to tie them together, for example, rather difficult. Naturally, should the opposed portions of the suture elements become mixed up, or should the opposed portions be spaced laterally relatively close together making manual pick up difficult, the suturing procedure can be complicated and can take longer than it would otherwise.
It would be advantageous to provide a device and method whereby the handling of multiple suture elements, during a suturing procedure comprising the placement of a plurality of suture elements on a patient body, generally at the same time, before tying opposed portions of each suture element together, could be made easier at least to reduce the problems set forth above.
Accordingly, the invention provides a device and method of handling a plurality of suture elements after having been located at a surgical site on a patient body, so as to inhibit opposed portions of the suture elements from becoming mixed up during a suturing procedure and to increase a lateral spacing between the suture elements.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a suture handling device. The suture handling device comprises a body and a plurality of passages defined on the body. Each passage has a mouth and an opposed end. The passages are arranged to diverge outwardly relative to one another in a direction away from the mouths and toward their opposed ends, such that when the suture handling device is advanced laterally over a plurality of spaced apart suture elements so that the suture elements enter the mouths and pass along the passages toward the opposed ends, the suture elements become spaced further apart.
By passing the suture handling device laterally over a plurality of spaced apart suture elements and advancing the suture handling device such that the suture elements travel along the passages, a lateral spacing between the suture elements can be increased. By increasing the lateral spacing in this fashion, manual pick up of opposed portions of the suture elements so as to tie them together can be made easier.
The suture handling device may comprise an engaging formation arranged to engage the suture elements when at the ends of the passages.
The engaging formation may comprise a slide on the body. The slide may be displaceable laterally relative to the passages between an engaging condition, in which the slide protrudes into the passages to engage the suture elements in the passages, and a disengaging condition, in which the slide is clear of the passages to be disengaged from the suture elements.
Accordingly, after the suture elements have passed along the passages so as to increase their lateral spacing, the suture elements can be held captive on the device by means of the engaging formation. Individual suture element portions can then be removed from the device so as to tie them together, while the rest of the suture element portions remain engaged in the passages on the device, thereby inhibiting the suture element portions from becoming mixed up.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of handling a plurality of suture elements. The method comprises locating a plurality of suture elements on a patient body, positioning the suture elements in a suture handling device and causing the suture handling device to displace the suture elements laterally away from one another to increase a lateral spacing between the suture elements.
Positioning the suture elements in the suture handling device may comprise passing the suture elements laterally through mouths of passages defined on the suture handling device. The passages can typically diverge laterally away from one another in a direction away from the mouths, so that, causing the suture handling device to displace the suture elements laterally away from one another to increase a lateral spacing between the suture elements comprises advancing the suture elements along the passages such that the suture handling device causes the suture elements to displace laterally away from one another as the suture elements are advanced along the passages.
The method may further comprise positioning opposed portions of a suture element in each passage of the suture handling device and selectively removing the opposed portions of the suture elements from the suture handling device and tying them together to form a plurality of sutures on the patient body.
Locating the plurality of suture elements on the patient body may comprise locating the suture elements through patient tissue such that opposed portions of each suture element extend from the patient tissue.
Locating the plurality of suture elements through patient tissue may comprise actuating a multi-suture deployment device to locate the plurality of suture elements through the patient tissue and withdrawing the multi-suture deployment device from the patient tissue while opposed portions of each suture element is carried on the multi-suture deployment device so that the opposed portions of the suture elements extend from the patient tissue.
Passing the suture handling device laterally across the suture elements may comprise positioning both opposed portions of each suture element in a separate one of the passages of the suture handling device. The method may further comprise selectively removing the opposed portions of each suture element from the suture handling device and tying the opposed portions together.